


Matty the Babysitter

by Elle82



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Age Play, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Non-Sexual Age Play, Now I have 'Let It Go' stuck in my head, Punishment, corner time, frozen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-09 23:32:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3268397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elle82/pseuds/Elle82
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will is over the moon when he learns Matty will be babysitting him, but he is in for a surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Matty the Babysitter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [telera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/telera/gifts).



> This is dedicated to the lovely telera – without her kind words of support and encouragement, I wouldn’t be writing this! Also, she suggested the idea of Will and Matty watching Frozen together and eating popcorn.
> 
> Also, I don't own Frozen or Spongebob - please don't sue me. 
> 
> Prompts always welcome - comment below or find me on tumblr : puppxtraining :)

Will never thought the day would come when his cousin Matty would be allowed to babysit him. But that Saturday morning his daddy had come into his room, as usual, and woken his sleeping boy with the news.

“Will? Darling it’s time to wake up.”

Will grunted and burrowed further into the covers, hugging Mr Bear tighter.

Hannibal laughed and reached his hand under the duvet, finding a bare foot and tickling it gently.

Will giggled and kicked out.

“No daddy, don’t!”

Hannibal threw back the covers and tickled Will under the armpits, causing the boy to squirm and wriggle around.

“This is what happens to boys who sleep in on Saturdays! They are attacked by the tickle monster!”

“Heee no daddy, you’re not the tickle monster, you’re my daddy!”

Hannibal gathered Will into his arms and kissed him noisily on the cheek and forehead. 

“My dear, I have a surprise for you today.”

Will’s eyes widened as he lay in his daddy’s arms.

“What is it? Is it a bike? Or a puppy? Or are we going to the markets?”

“No Will. Your cousin Matthew is going to look after you for the day while daddy goes shopping with Uncle Frederick for a new car.”

Will’s face fell a little.

“Oh. I wanted to spent the day with you.”

“Honey, we are going to spend tonight and all day tomorrow together. I’ll take you to the park and feed the ducks even. But today, I thought it would be nice if Matthew looked after you. You like spending time with your cousin, don’t you?”

Will nodded rapidly, his brown curls bouncing. He loved his cousin so much; they always had fun together, and even got up to mischief on more than one occasion.

“Well how about I make us some breakfast, then I’ll take you over to Uncle Frederick’s house. I said we’d be there at about 10, so we’d better get a move on.”

“Daddy, can I bring my things with me?” Will asked, crawling out of bed and grabbing his Spongebob backpack from the closet.

“Of course, my dear. But first, let’s get you out of your pyjamas and ready for the day.”

Hannibal dressed Will in his cargo pants and a dinosaur t-shirt. Will was nervous and his daddy could tell.

“Are you anxious, little one?” Hannibal asked as he brushed Will’s hair.

“A little, daddy.”

“Why is that?” 

“Well, Matty’s never looked after me alone. What if something happens?”

“I have faith in Matthew. And your Uncle Frederick and I won’t be far away. If you need anything, Matthew has both of our numbers.”

Will smiled.

“I can’t wait to see Matty. I can’t wait!”

…

At precisely 10am, Hannibal rang Frederick’s front doorbell. Will stood next to him, bouncing up and down ever so slightly. Uncle Frederick opened the door. 

“Hello Hannibal. Hello Will.”

“Hello Frederick.”

“Hi Uncle Frederick.”

“Come in, I’m just jotting down the addresses of some of the dealerships I want to go to.”

Usually Matthew would come running to the door when Will came over, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Will slipped his hand into his daddy’s.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“Where’s Matty?”

“Hello Will.”

Matthew came down the stairs and Will grinned. But Matty looked different. He was wearing dark jeans and a blue button up shirt instead of the usual play clothes he wore.

“Hi Matty!”

Will ran over to his cousin and hugged him tight. Matthew gave a small smile and hugged Will back.

“How are you Will?”

Will cocked his head slightly. Matty looked different and spoke different. But it was definitely him.

“Why are you dressed like that, Mat-“

Before Will could ask his question, Matthew walked over to Hannibal and held his hand out. 

“Good to see you, Dr Lecter.” 

Hannibal shook hands with Matthew, a slightly bemused look on his face.

“Nice to see you too, Matthew. You’re looking well.”

“Thank you, Dr Lecter. As are you.”

Will watched the exchange between the two like they were speaking a foreign language he didn’t quite understand.

“Thank you for looking after Will. I really do appreciate it Matthew.”

“No troubles, Dr Lecter. He’ll be just fine with me. 

Will frowned. Something was very strange here. Before he could ask his daddy if he could perhaps go with them to look at cars, Frederick came back through to the front hall.

“Okay, well we’d better head off. There are a couple of vintage cars I have my eye on and I need to get in early. Matty, you have my number and Hannibal’s if you need anything. Have a good time, Willy.”

Hannibal hugged Will and gave him a kiss on the forehead before he left.

“Be good, Will. Listen to your cousin and have fun.”

“Okay. Bye daddy. Bye Uncle Frederick.”

When they had left, Matthew closed the front door and turned the lock, before turning around to look at Will.

“Well, what would you like to do today, Will? You can do some drawing, or play with the train set that’s set up in the living room? 

Will was confused. Usually they’d play together, make up a game or tear around the backyard.

“Matty, is something wrong? Why are you dressed like a grown up? Why are you talking funny?”

“I’m not talking funny, Will. And I’m dressed normally.”

Matthew seemed slightly annoyed and Will thought perhaps he was playing a trick on him. Will hugged his backpack to his chest.

“Um, Matty, I brought over my sketchbook and crayons. I thought we could draw together and maybe write a book? Or, oh, I bought my DVD of  _Frozen_  over! My daddy asked your daddy if you had seen it and he said no, so I –“ 

“ _Frozen_? That kids movie? Hmm, maybe if you’re good then later I’ll put it on for you. But for now, how about you draw a picture for your daddy?” 

“Okay.”

Will was crestfallen. He followed Matty to the dining table just off the kitchen and sat down on the chair when Matty pulled it out for him. Matty sat opposite him and opened a magazine about motorbikes and began to flick through it silently.

Will pulled out his crayons and his sketchpad, keeping an eye on his cousin, wondering when the game would break. But it didn’t. 

“Would you like something to drink, Will?”

“Yes please.”

Matthew returned with a glass of juice for himself, and a tippy cup full of milk for Will.

“Can I have juice too Matty?”

“No, Will. You daddy told me you have milk for a snack, and juice or water with your meals.”

Will frowned. This wasn’t one of his own tippy cups either. It was one that was more baby-ish, with two handles and a rubber nipple instead of a plastic one. Not used to the cup, Will dribbled some milk on his chin and onto his shirt.

Matty got up and grabbed some paper towel, wiping Will’s face and t-shirt as if he was a toddler. Will exhaled with frustration.

“It’s okay, Will. Don’t be upset. Babies spill things all the time.”

“I’m not a baby!”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Will. I just meant that little kids have accidents. It’s okay." 

Will huffed again in frustration. He didn’t understand what was going on. He grabbed a black crayon and scribbled it angrily across his drawing.

Matthew watched on, amused and then suddenly irritated as he noticed the crayon leave the paper. Will, in his fury, had drawn on the table.

Will froze and held the crayon still. Matthew got up and walked around to where Will was sitting. He grabbed Will’s upper arm and walked him over to the corner of the room. Will stayed silent.

“Will, that was very naughty of you. I want you to stand here for five minutes and think about your behaviour. Do you understand me?”

Will nodded.

Matthew went back to the table and cleaned the crayon off the table. Then he sat down and continued to flip through the magazine. When the five minutes was up, he asked Will to come over to him.

“Do you know why I put you in time-out, Will?”

Will nodded sadly.

“Why?”

“Because I drew on the table.”

“That’s right. You threw a little tantrum and drew on the table. I know it was an accident, Will, which is why I won’t spank you, but you need to be more careful with things.”

“Okay Matthew.”

“Okay. Good boy. Now do you want to re-do that drawing you ruined? What was it going to be?”

Will went back around to his side of the table and took another drink of milk.

“It was going to be a picture of you and me playing today.”

Matthew’s face fell a little. 

“Oh. Well…maybe you can draw something else. Like a dinosaur. Like the one on your little t-shirt?”

Will shrugged and flipped over to a new page in his sketchbook.

It was going to be a long day.

…

Lunchtime came and went. Matthew re-filled Will’s cup with juice and made him an almond butter and jam sandwich on brown bread, under strict instructions from Hannibal that Will was to have no convenience or microwaved food. Matthew even cut it up into little shapes for Will to enjoy, but Will only looked at it sadly when he saw it in comparison to Matthew’s grownup lunch of re-heated ravioli carbonara.

They ate in silence, with Matthew still flicking through the magazine and generally ignoring Will.

A plate of grapes sat in the middle of the table and Will took a bunch. He picked off a small grape and sat it on the table. Using his thumb and forefinger, Will flicked it over at Matthew.

When it landed on Matthew magazine, he looked up at Will, who was suddenly very interested in the view outside of the garden. Matthew ignored it.

Another little grape sailed through the air, this time hitting Matthew in the chest. Will stifled a giggle and flicked through his sketchbook. Again, Matthew ignored it. 

So Will picked the biggest grape he could and flicked it. Only this time, it hit Matthew square in the forehead. Will let out a giggle but it was soon stifled by Matthew standing up so quickly, his chair tipped over and yelling angrily at Will. 

“What is wrong with you, William?!”

Will recoiled. Tears sprang to his eyes. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.

“Stand up.”

Will stood up, slowly. His legs were shaking.

Matthew walked around to his side of the table and towered over the boy.

“Follow me.”

Matthew walked down the hall into the study. There was a large desk there, with a large and uncomfortable chair behind it. For a second, Will thought he was going to get a spanking.

“Sit down.”

Will sat down in the chair while Matthew placed a yellow legal pad and a pen on top of it.

“I don’t know why you’ve been so naughty, Will. I thought we were going to have a nice day.”

Will swallowed, trying very hard not to cry.

“Throwing grapes at me like that. You should be ashamed. I’m sure your daddy wouldn’t be pleased if I told him the way you behaved during lunch.”

“P-please don’t tell my daddy, Matthew.”

“I’ll have to think about that, Will. Now. I want you to write  _I will not be a naughty boy for my babysitter Matthew_  one hundred times.”

Will’s jaw dropped open. 

“One hundred? But that’s not fair!”

“Fine. Two hundred times.”

“B-but…”

“Do you want to make it three hundred, William?"

Will bit his lip and shook his head.

“Good. Now start writing. And I want your best handwriting. If I can’t read any of it, I’ll make you start over until you get it right.”

Matthew left the room and Will sat staring at his page. He knew he shouldn’t have thrown food at his babysitter, but he was just trying to elicit some sort of playful reaction from Matthew. Never before had he been so miserable while spending time with Matthew, and that hurt him.

Will picked up the pen and began writing, painstakingly slow so that there could be no mistaking any of the letters or words.

As he wrote, something in Will began to ache. He missed his cousin Matty. This person that had punished him, that wasn’t Matty. It was a different version of him and Will’s longing for his fun, playful and goofy cousin came over him like a tidal wave. 

Will began to cry. Droplets of tears ran down his face and onto the page below him, smudging the letters and words. This made Will cry even more and he tore off the front page and tried to start again.

But it was no use. He tried over and over again, but the tears kept coming. So he put his head down on the half-written page and wept.

Matthew stood in the doorway and watched, his heart breaking. He couldn’t take it any longer, and walked slowly over to Will.

“Will?”

He crouched down beside him and placed his hand on his back.

“Will?”

Will looked up, his face red from crying and the ink from the pages smeared on his face.

“Wh-why are you being so mean to me, Matty? I want to go home, I want my daddy!”

A fresh set of tears fell.

“Oh Will. Don’t you understand? I’m trying to be a good babysitter! I was just trying to do as your daddy told me, to look after you, so that your daddy would be proud of me and let me look after you next time!”

Matty grabbed a tissue from the box on the desk and let Will blow his nose, then he grabbed another tissue and cleaned the ink and tears from Will’s face.

“B-but you were so mean to me, Matty. You’ve never been mean to me.”

Matty wrapped his arms around Will and hugged him tight.

“I’m sorry, Will. I really am. I was just trying to be responsible. It was no fun for me either, Will! Did you think I enjoyed reading that boring magazine and eating that boring food? Blech!" 

Matty made a face and Will gave a small smile.

“And these BORING clothes! Ugh, who would want to be a grown up?!”

Matty stood up and walked across the study, lowering his voice.

“Uh yes, good day to you, Dr Lecter. My name is Matthew Brown, I’m a grown up." 

Will laughed as Matthew mimed walking over to someone, shaking their hand and offering a reverential bow.

“Yes, I have a very big study with many, many important books. Many of which I have never read ever in my life." 

Will laughed harder and harder. This was the Matty he knew and loved.

“Oh, I must be off, Dr Lecter, I am about to go into a meeting with my accountant so he can tell me how much money I have. Oh, it’s so hard to be a grown up. I’m always so busy.”

Will clapped his hands and laughed again. Matty beamed at him and bowed, then walked over and pulled Will to stand up to face him.

“I’m so sorry again, Will. Can you forgive me?”

Will flung his arms around his cousin and buried his face in his neck.

“Of course, Matty. I love you.”

“I love you too, Will. Hey, do you wanna go watch  _Frozen_?”

Will’s eyes lit up.

“But…but you said that was for little kids?”

“Well that’s why we’ll love it then! Go wait for me in the TV room, I want to change my clothes and I’ll make us some popcorn.”

Will raced to the other room and got out the DVD. He then gathered all the pillows from the couch and dumped them on the floor, making a comfy spot where they could watch the movie.

Matty meanwhile ran upstairs as quick as he could and took his clothes off, changing into some worn-in tracksuit pants and a t-shirt with a dog on it, just for Will. He ran down to the kitchen and made some popcorn. 

When he went into the TV room, Will was sitting on the pillow bed he had made with the blanket from the couch spread over him.   
  
Matty put the DVD on and crawled over to Will, climbing under the blanket and adjusting it so it covered both of them.

Will immediately snuggled up to Matty, placing his thumb in his mouth and resting his head on his cousin’s chest as the movie started, the popcorn and the events of earlier all but forgotten.

…

The house was silent when Hannibal and Frederick returned.

“Wonder what those two got up to while we were gone. You know I wasn’t sure about you wanting to leave your boy with Matty.”

“I have faith in Matthew. He would let no harm come to Will.”

The dining table still had the lunch dishes on it, and there were a few grapes on the floor. Frederick sighed as he picked them up and threw them in the trash.

“Where are those boys?”

Hannibal was standing at the doorway to the TV room. The movie had ended and the menu screen was on the television. On the floor, on a bed made from pillows, lay Will and Matty fast asleep in each other’s arms 

Hannibal smiled and shut the door behind him quietly.

“They’re fine, Frederick. Just fine.”


End file.
